You Are So My Cut of Beef
by Dwyn Arthur
Summary: Alternative ending to "The Great Tuna Jump." Sam and Cat visit Freddie and Robbie in the hospital after their tuna accident, where Sam and Freddie try to come to terms with their feelings. Co-Authored with TheWrtrInMe.


**A/N: Hello once again, readers! The best thing about "The Great Tuna Jump" wasn't the Seddie moments-it was seeing the fandom come alive once again. And it's time for TheWrtrInMe and me to get ourselves writing again. For all my criticism of Sam & Cat, this episode was fun to watch. Well-written, well-acted and that great chemistry among the characters is finally back. If only Dan had done something about that last scene, with important moments yet again shoved into throwaway lines…**

**And there begins the premise for this story. For this story, the entire episode is unchanged, save for the last scene, where we pick up the action at St. Schneider's (Peter Sinai is far better wordplay), and then look on into the future a bit.**

**Disclaimer: The characters from iCarly, Victorious, and Sam & Cat are the creation of Dan Schneider and Schneider's Bakery and remain their property. **

Sam Puckett was impatient. That wasn't news to anyone who knew her, but today she had good reason. She had something to do. Someone to see. And something to say that was long overdue.

She breathed a hurried sigh and struggled to guide her friend, business partner, and roommate Cat Valentine down the fifth floor hallway of St. Schneider's Hospital. She was looking for room 5313, where the front desk told her Freddie Benson and Robbie Shapiro would stay for the night, if not longer. Both boys were rushed from The Fisherman's Wharf to the emergency room by paramedics after an accident that was almost too ridiculous to be real. They'd fallen into a pool of Kansas Razorback Tuna, who like the piranha, had both sharp teeth and an appetite for meat. The fish had left bites all over Freddie's and Robbie's bodies that required countless stitches, and the nurse said they would need to stay in the hospital until the risk of infection passed. Sam still found it hard to believe they'd fallen in. But after seeing Freddie Benson rush back into her life yesterday, nothing should surprise her.

Cat, easily distracted by shiny objects, had led Sam on a chase down three corridors, hoping to get a better look at a young doctor's head mirror. Five minutes later, Sam had managed to extricate Cat from a bizarre conversation about concave mirrors, leaving the resident both perplexed and a little disappointed that neither of the attractive young women had really been there to flirt with him.

Finally finding the 5300 corridor, they headed for the far end. En route, Cat suddenly turned to Sam and said, "You know, Freddie wouldn't be my type of guy. He's too techy and…you know…nerdy."

"Well, Robbie isn't exactly my cut of beef, either. I mean, he said he was a ventriloquist! That means he regularly sticks his hand up the business end of a puppet. For fun!"

"Robbie's nice, Sam!"

"Lots of crazy people are nice."

"My brother's special doctor says you shouldn't use that word!" Cat pouted and crossed her arms, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Okay, okay! Don't get your skivvies in a wad." Sam stopped and tried to be calm She was in a hurry. The last thing she needed was a Cat meltdown. "I'm sure Robbie is very…nice."

"He is Sam, you just have to get to know him. And he's my…friend." Cat started walking beside Sam, looking down at her hands.

"I think he's more than your friend Cat. You really like him, don't you?"

"Yeah. I mean, I've always liked him but he's never made a move. I guess he never will."

"Look, Cat. Guys are stupid. They don't do subtlety and they can't take hints. You just have to come out and tell them. Maybe you'll get shot down, but as a very smart friend of mine said once, you never know what will happen."

"A smart friend named Freddie…that you loooove!" Cat clasped her hands beneath her chin, fluttering her eyebrows in a way that made Sam's punching hand itchy.

"Don't push it Cat…"

Cat reached out and put an arm around Sam's shoulder. "Oh Sam, love is nothing to be ashamed of! It's beautiful!"

"I do not...lov…." she shook her head and kept walking. Love was a word she didn't say often, or easily. "Just shut up and keep walking." she grumbled.

"It's okay Sam, I know how you feel about Freddie, because the one time I saw that small picture of him above your bed and asked who it was, I thought you were gonna go get the buttersock, and you didn't talk to me for a whole day. I knew I hit a big nerve then." She lowered her voice and reached out to grab Sam's shoulder. "Listen Sam, I'm really sorry I used Freddie to try to get back at you. But I'm not sorry that I got him down here. Maybe it's a sign."

"A sign?"

"Yeah. Maybe it means it's finally time for you to tell him how you feel, Sam."

"It's not that easy, Cat. We already tried it. It just…doesn't work. We don't work." Sam began, but stopped as they found room 5313, whose door was cracked open. Cat stuck her head inside, and saw the two boys in their beds. To their right was Robbie, who had a face covered in bandages, a torso heavily wrapped, and two legs with casts, a peculiar sight when he had only suffered from cuts and tuna bites.

On the left, Freddie seemed to be in worse shape. He had no broken bones, but he was so tightly wrapped in bandages that little of his skin was left exposed, and the entire lower half of his face was bandaged, even though Sam didn't remember any wounds near his mouth. His jaw was wrapped up, and his mouth appeared to be filled with gauze. Freddie's eyes nonetheless lit up when Sam walked into the room, and she walked across the room to stand next to his bed, reaching down to pull the wrapping away from his mouth.

"Hey Benson," she laughed uncomfortably. "How are you doing?"

Freddie answered slowly, showing the effects of the sedatives his doctor had ordered. "Sore. Stitches everywhere."

"Return of the taco truck, huh?"

"Way worse than the taco truck. Mom's gonna be pissed. She said something like this would happen if I came down here."

"Captain Cleano? She thinks something like this will happen if you drink a glass of water without wearing a helmet, nub."

Freddie laughed, then grimaced and touched one of the bandages on his chest. "Thanks for coming, Sam. It's been good…you know, seeing you again."

"Speaking of seeing me again… you still haven't really told me why you came down here, other than Cat calling you."

"She told me you were pretty banged up in a car accident, several broken bones. I was worried sick and wanted to know you were okay. Spencer too, when I told him."

"Well she was obviously wrong about that."

"Yeah…I'm really glad to see you were okay."

Sam looked over to Robbie, to see Cat sitting on the edge of his bed. She nodded in Freddie's direction, and Cat took her lead.

"I bet you need some exercise, Robbie." she said, standing, "Let's get you into a wheelchair and wander pointlessly around the hospital. There's this really cool doctor with a head mirror! It's a mirror…on his head!" Despite Robbie's moans, Cat was able to dump him into a wheelchair that had been in the corner. She began to push him to the door when she heard the plucking of some guitar strings and Robbie singing the words, "_You're the nugget in my chicken…_"

"Put it down, now."

"But Cat, that song was for you."

"Don't care," Cat groaned, tossing the guitar back on the bed before pushing Robbie out into the hallway, leaving Sam alone with Freddie.

"Those two…" Freddie chuckled.

"Are a match made in wackadoo heaven." Sam laughed and sat down on the side of the bed. "So…you came here because you were worried?" Freddie nodded. "That was …very nice of you. I, you know …" Sam trailed off.

"It wasn't just that Sam."

"It wasn't?"

"No. I also came because I…"

"You what…"

Freddie sighed. Sam never made anything easy on him. "I came because…I miss you. I still don't know why you left."

"Freddie…" Sam shook her head. She'd been rushing to come and talk to Freddie but now, the idea of discussing it – why he was here, and why she'd left –made her feel like the room was getting smaller.

"No Sam, I need to say this." He grimaced and tried to sit up. "When you left I tried to understand, I really did. Your best friend was gone, I get it, but I was still there, and Spencer and so were our friends at school. I figured … if you didn't want to stay, I had to be part of the problem. I thought maybe…maybe I was the reason you left."

"Freddie you've got it wrong…"

"How was I supposed to know that Sam? You never said anything…not a word. I tried calling, texting, but you only answered once, and it was because you needed help with some guys who were trolling your business."

"Yeah. I, well, thought there was nothing left for me in Seattle. Not just Carly, and my mom, but you talking about us getting back together then dropping it, and you were paying so much attention to Carly again…"

"Sam, there's nothing between me and Carly!"

Sam raised a hand to stop him. "I know that. Now. But right then it was all just…too much. Too many changes, too many questions I didn't have answers to. I just needed to get away. I needed some time to think."

"So did you? Think I mean."

Sam nodded. "Not at first. At first I tried not to think about any of it."

"And now?"

"Well, when you showed up I guess it forced me to think. I know things have always been weird between us, but … I hope you know I care about you, and I have for longer than you ever realized. Longer than I admitted to myself. Until now." She sighed and stood, turning her back to the bed. "But Freddie we've tried all this before. And things were…bad. Real bad."

"What was bad about it? We barely had time to get used to it. We never gave it a chance, Sam. I think that's what hurt the most."

"Did those tuna bites scramble your brain? We did try! And it was…hard!"

"And amazing."

"And…frustrating. And…" she sighed and turned back to him. Same Freddie. Sam goofy grin and hair that stood up in that one spot. Same way of looking at her that turned her knees to jello. "Amazing sometimes." she smiled hesitantly, "But who's to say things won't be the same as before? I mean is this what you want…do you still want to be together?"

"Yes, I've always wanted that but I don't want to rush you or force anything. Right now, I just want you back in my life. We can figure the rest out later. But I promise you this, Sam. I'm never walking away just because things get tough for a moment. We fought for years, but I never left. I'm not giving up on us."

She pressed a finger into his chest. "That sounds like a plan nub." Freddie reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it steady at his chest. "So … once you're out of those bandages, and can chew without making any of those stitches pop out, how about we go for dinner and have some fun? Seeing as we never finished our lasagna, I'd say you still owe me one."

"Wasn't my taking you for lasagna part of how we got screwed up?"

Sam laughed. "Relax, Freddifer, there's a place in Santa Monica where the lasagna is so good Mama doesn't even need to put cheese on it. And…I've gotten pretty classy since I moved to the City of Angels. Mouth closed when I chew and everything!"

"So we'll have dinner and we can talk and figure out what we're going to do from here. I'd like that a lot."

"You should be, I'm a pretty hot ticket! All your Training Bros would wet their overalls if they knew." She laughed. "Now you get some rest. Being turned into sashimi took a lot out of you."

"That's probably a good idea. The pain meds are kicking in anyway," he yawned.

Sam bent over, and finding a non-bandaged spot on Freddie's face, gave him a quick kiss.

"I love you Sam," Freddie whispered.

"I love you too," Sam whispered back, before watching Freddie's eyes close and walking out the door.

**A/N2: Don't worry, it doesn't end here! TheWrtrInMe will be continuing this story shortly. Stay tuned, and follow her so you know when the next story is posted!**


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